[jyl]

I'm not in the UK, but from what I see, their economy has some of the same problems we do. Housing market rolling over, UK homebuilder stocks are down like 80%. Financial system under stress, they've had to nationalize a significant lender already. Oil prices hurting, even with the strong pound, along with North Sea production falling. London is heavily dependent on the financial services industry, similar to New York. Consumer spending very weak, UK retailer stocks doing badly indeed.